Normalcy, and Lack Thereof
by FloatingBubbles
Summary: Hermione has insecurities about her insecurities. Ron shows surprising insight at the oddest times. Red has nothing to do with Quidditch.


Disclaimer: JKR owns Harry Potter. I do not own Harry Potter. If I did (and JKR didn't), I wouldn't write fanfiction about Harry Potter Characters. So, you know, I suppose it's a good thing that I don't (and JKR does) own Harry Potter, because I _really_ like writing fanfiction about it. (--Music-- always look on the bright side of life! Doo doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-dee-doo! --end music--)

Disclaimer2: I don't own the song "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life", either, as much as I wish I do. Monty Python does. I do not. There is no bright side in that situation

**Normalcy (and Lack Thereof)  
**

* * *

"Why, Ronald Weasley, do you seem to take _everything_ in terms of Quidditch? I said 'Red', for goodness sakes! How does that translate to 'Quidditch'?"

"Well, I was thinking of the Hogwarts Quidditch uniforms. They're red!"

"Technically, they're scarlet."

"Hermione, are you always this nitpicky on purpose, or has it become a habit?"

"Well, after spending seven and a half in my presence, _you _should be used to me!"

"You're avoiding the question."

"Where were we?"

"Quidditch."

Hermione made a disgusted noise in her throat, but continued on in the game, saying, "Snitch".

"Golden" Ron shot back, shifting a bit to get comfortable as he lowered his head back to his girlfriend's lap.

"Jewelry."

"Necklace" He reached up, fiddling with the one around her neck (His Christmas present to her).

"Boyfriend."

"Girlfriend."

She grinned, "Me."

"Lovely."

"I wish."

That made Ron's eyes focus, their focusing point being her face.

She'd said it in a calm, skeptical, almost sarcastic sort of tone that Ron was quite familiar with. It was the sort of tone she used when she said things like "and you really think _that_ is going to work" or "you _must_ have gotten your facts wrong." In the current circumstances, he wasn't sure he liked it.

"That was two words."

Hermione knew she should have expected that; dancing around the point. Typical Ron.

He continued: "But that doesn't really matter, since I fail to see the connection between 'Lovely' and 'I wish'."

Ron sat slowly up, his eyes locked on her face as he awaited her reply.

"Well, _I_ still fail to see the connection between 'Red' and 'Quidditch'."

Ron silently cursed himself for not expecting that. Classic Hermione; avoiding the point.

"You're avoiding the question, Hermione." Had he said that already?

"What are you talking about? You never asked a question!"

Ron groaned, thoroughly frustrated.

"Okay. What do you mean by 'I wish'?"

"I should think that would be obvious." Hermione was avoiding his eyes by looking at her recently vacated lap.

"Spell it out for me, please." Ron, conversely, was watching her so closely that she felt he would bore a hole through his head. She blushed.

"Well…" She blushed harder, "…I'm not lovely…" She stole a glance at him.

His mouth had opened to speak, but he seemed to think better of it and closed it, only to open it again a moment later and let out a strangled, "Continue."

This failure to disagree both bothered Hermione and strengthened her resolve, as she (still looking down, her face now rivaling the color of Ron's hair) murmured, "And…and Ron, you _deserve_ lovely…not me." She suddenly looked at him, uncertain.

He seemed thoughtful, and when he spoke, he said something entirely unexpected.

"You don't believe that."

"What?" The uncertainty was leaving Hermione's face, to be replaced by annoyance.

"I said," Ron replied with slow, measured, puzzled tones, "That you don't believe that." When he looked at her, it was with the same practical shrewdness that he looked at a chessboard, "Do you?" It was more statement than question.

"I…well…it…was…I thought…you…" Hermione spluttered.

Ron, that look on his face, said quietly, "No, I didn't think so. So that leaves the question…why'd you say that if you didn't believe it?" He reclined into the chair, his expression perplexed.

Hermione, giving in to her practical side, dropped all the affectations (including the ones that she hadn't known she was using.) "I didn't know if it was love."

"And pretending to believe you didn't deserve me was supposed to clarify it? I'm confused. Really, really, extraordinarily confused."

She sighed, face once again heating up in shame; thankfully, Ron was also a bit red-faced. "I…I've read a bit of romance…and, well, it's more or less normal to feel insecure in a relationship this early…and it worried me that…that…"

"…that we didn't seem to be having that problem?"

"Well, yeah."

"Hermione, since when have _we_ ever bloody well cared about '_normal_'?"

And, quite suddenly, she realized that they never had, and that she, 'the practical one', was getting down-to-earth advice from her boyfriend, and that she was letting a few romance novels direct the course of her relationships, and that she was absolutely acting _insane_ right now. All of it, as it crashed down upon her, was too much to bear…

…And, so, she began to laugh.

For a few moments, Ron stared at her in puzzlement, but he didn't need to get the joke (and there was none) to be infected by the laughing bug. He, too, burst into laughter.

A few minutes later, their laughter turned into chuckles, and the chuckles into sighs as Hermione, feeling quite refreshed and confident, leaned against the red-haired young man's shoulder, letting him curl his arm around her.

"I deserve you. And you deserve me." She murmured warmly.

Ron grinned, enjoying the feel of her weight against him, "I'm glad you got the point."

"You were right."

"That's very nice to know. It's a hard thing to do, be right, when my girlfriend is the unsurpassably intelligent, incredibly deserving Miss Hermione Granger."

"I like it when you say nice things about me."

"Remind me of that next time you're mad at me."

"Okay."

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Ron's voice came again.

"Hermione, does it ever bother you that we're not doing what's _normal_?"

"Nope."

"But—"

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

He didn't of course, but that's another story.

* * *

A/N:I _love_ Ron and Hermione. More than that, I _love_ Ron/Hermione Fanfiction. So, here's my contribution to the Good Ship. A short, fluffy piece about one of my favorite pairings and why they will never be quite normal. I really like how this one turned out.

Granted, I had to sift through the rough equivalent of 15.762 everest-sized mountains of fluff in order to find this story. I still occasionally find stray pieces of soggy fluff in my ears when I'm in the shower. No wonder everything sounds slightly muffled. (Heh. And my doctor said it was earwax! Shows what he knows!)

Please compensate for my fluff-induced temporary loss of hearing by giving me many reviews!

(See. You _knew_ I'd work in a plea for reviews _somehow_)


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